THE NINJA
by lightingpaperballoons
Summary: The story of the land-lord's silver eyed daughter and the theif ninja. A secret love.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, it's happening.**

**I'm getting bored with my other story.**

**Writer's block on Konoha on High.**

**I want them to be together, but I just don't think it's a right time.**

**But every other chapter they just sink lower with each other.**

**I don't know.**

**I read this poem in class and I just couldn't stop thinking of using it in a story.**

**And I had a really good idea for this one.**

**I was going to make this SasuSaku, but NaruHina just worked better.**

**This is based of the poem The Highwayman.**

**It's great.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Highwayman, but it has been tweaked a little by me.**

**I do not own Naruto characters.**

THE NINJA

_The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,_

_The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,_

_The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,_

_And the ninja came running-_

_running-running-_

_The ninja came running, up to the old inn-door._

The blond haired man ran through the trees, his sandals hitting hard and fast against the dirt path.

His breathing was shallow in his throat as he came closer and closer to the inn. He jumped up and started to swing through the trees, his blue eyes sharp as he gulped, his throat burning.

He coughed, tightening his forehead protector around his head, his brow furrowing as he came closer to where she would be.

Where he could see her before he left.

_He'd a Konoha ninja band on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,_

_A coat of the color orange and sleek black breeches;_

_They fitted with never a wrinkle: his bandages were up to the thigh!_

_And he rode with a jeweled twinkle,_

_His shuriken a-twinkle,_

_His kunai a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky._

He came into sight of the huge inn, and noticed a window open.

Her curtains—

Where she slept

Her curtains—

Swayed loosely. Her could hear her voice.

She was singing to herself an old song that he had told her was his favorite.

A tune to which she and himself had taken a liking to, and a tune at which she whistle if she ever came to find herself missing him.

_Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,_

_And he tapped with his fingers on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;_

_He whistled their tune to the window, and who should be waiting there_

_But the landlord's silver-eyed daughter,_

_Hinata, the landlord's daughter,_

_Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair._

The blond man grinned as a curtain of velvet silk washed over her face as she giggled, happy to see him.

His heart skipped and he tried his best to climb the vines that led up to her window, but he was too tired.

He wanted to make sure this would not be the last time he would see her.

Hinata began to whistle the tune to him, and all the ninja could do was sway to the melody, her voice like bells.

_And dark in the old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked_

_Where Kiba the farm boy listened; his face was white and peaked;_

_His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair tossed in his face,_

_But he loved the landlord's daughter,_

_The landlord's red-lipped daughter,_

_Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the ninja say-_

The ninja's face saddened. He knew the ANBU would be after him as soon as word caught around about the scroll missing.

_"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,_

_But I shall be back with the golden scroll before the morning light;_

_Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,_

_Then look for me by moonlight,_

_Watch for me by moonlight,_

_I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."_

Hinata's lip trembled, but then she forced a smile.

She knew her love would have to be all right.

He was strong.

She trusted him with her own life,

But feared for HIS own.

She began to tug at the ribbon.

He had given her a song, and now she would let him have her.

She bent down, her hair flying.

The blond ninja stood on the tip of his toes, pursing his lips as he took the velvet curtain in between his fingers.

_He rose upright in the vines;_

_he scarce could reach her hand,_

_But she loosened her hair from the ribbon _

_His face burnt like a brand_

_As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his chest;_

_And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,_

_(Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)_

_Then he tugged at his ninja band in the moonlight_

_and ran away to the_ _West._

Hinata sat in her room through the whole night, never sleeping.

She brushed her hair over and over until it began to shed.

She sighed, watching the sun rise over the hill to the West, the direction in which her love had left.

She began to whistle her tune.

Silence…

She whistled again.

Silence…

Tears stained at the corner of her eyes as she hummed to herself the tune, placing her hand over her heart.

Her pulse was fast and excited as she thought of him.

Naruto Uzamaki.

She waited another day, whistling here and there…

_He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;_

_And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,_

_When the road was a gipsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,_

_An ANBU troop came marching-_

_Marching-marching-_

_Hokage Tsunade's men came marching, up to the old inn-door._

"What are you doing here?" The landlord demanded, tightening his robe around his masculine chest.

The men with masks sad nothing as they made themselves comfortable.

Then, one of them snickered.

"We've come for your daughter's lover."

_They said no word to the landlord_

_they drank his sake instead_

_But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;_

_Two of them knelt at her chest, with kunais at their side_

_There was death at every window_

_And hell at one dark window_

_For Hinata could see_

_through the window_

_the road that __he__ would run._

"Shut up." One of the men snickered, and pulled out a gadget.

Hinata's silver eyes widened, and a man tightened the rope that held her thin wrists together behind her back.

She had heard about these things, but they were forbidden.

Guns.

Weapons used for an easy kill, but were passed on as illegal after shooting one of the Hokage heirs.

Hinata's tears began to stain her fair skin, her straight velvet hair was held by one of the men's hands.

Hinata whimpered and whined, but one of them kicked her.

They waited, looking outside the window.

They went through her drawers.

Hinata's heart pounded, the ribbon around her mouth made her feel so helpless…

_Naruto…_

_They had tied her up to attention_

_with many a sniggering jest;_

_They bound a gun beside her _

_with the barrel beneath her breast_

_"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her_

_She heard the dead man say-_

_**Look for me by moonlight;**_

_**Watch for me by moonlight;**_

_**I'll come to thee by moonlight**_

_ **though hell should bar the way!**_

Hinata squeaked to herself, her tears staggering in her throat.

She feared so much for him. Her dress began to tighten around her, and the man tightened his grip on her hair for only a moment before releasing her.

He moved away, and the man with the gun tossed it behind Hinata.

They moved to wait behind her, talking among themselves.

_She twisted her hands behind her; _

_but all the knots held good!_

_She writhed her hands till here fingers were wet with sweat and blood_

_They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like_

_**years,**_

_Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,_

_Cold, _

_on the stroke of midnight,_

_The tip of one finger touched it _

_The blade at least was hers_

Hinata's eyes widened as she felt the cold sting of the gun underneath the tip of her fingers.

Her words were caught underneath her skin, but she could hear the tune in her ears as she trembled.

_The tip of one finger touched it;_

_she strove no more for the rest!_

_Up, she stood up to attention, _

_with the blade beneath her breast,_

_She would not risk their hearing; _

_she would not strive again;_

_For the road lay bare in the moonlight;_

_Blank and bare in the moonlight;_

_And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain._

Hinata looked to the window, her silver eyes trembling and her pulse quickening.

_Tat-tat, tat-tat!_

_Had they heard it? _

_The sandals_

_clicking clear;_

_tat-tat_

_tat-tat_

_in the distance? _

_Were they deaf that they did_

_not hear?_

_Down the ribbon of moonlight, _

_over the brow of the hill,_

_The ninja came running,_

_Running,_

_Running!_

_The ANBU looked to their priming! _

_She stood up strait and still!_

"What is she doing?" One asked aloud.

The landlord's daughter gasped sharply, standing up.

Sweat trickled down her cheek, her mascara dripping underneath her lashes.

She took in a breath, humming the tune in her head.

A tune to Naruto Uzamaki.

_Tat-tat__, in the frosty silence! _

_Tat-tat__, in the echoing night_

_Nearer he came and nearer! _

_Her face was like a light!_

_Her eyes grew wide for a moment; _

_she drew one last deep breath,_

_Then her finger moved in the moonlight,_

_Her musket shattered the moonlight,_

_Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him-with her death._

The blond ninja stopped running.

He heard a sudden boom.

His breathing stopped, and his fingers ran over the golden scroll that was at his side.

He thought about Hinata, but he knew the ANBU might catch him if they were at the inn.

He prayed to himself, hoping Hinata was okay.

_He turned; he spurred to the West; _

_he did not know who stood_

_Bowed, with her head over the musket, _

_drenched with her own _

_red blood!_

_Not till the dawn he heard it _

_his face grew grey to hear_

_How Hinata, the landlord's daughter,_

_The landlord's silver-eyed daughter,_

_**Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.**_

The blond ninja held his head down.

He covered his arm across his face.

His tears began to stain his skin as he trembled.

He thought of her, waiting for him, so innocent…

But she had risked her own life.

_Back, he spurred like a madman, _

_shrieking a curse to the sky,_

_With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!_

_Blood-red was his shuriken in the golden noon; _

_orange was his baggy coat,_

_When they stabbed him down on the highway,_

_Down like a dog on the highway,_

_And he lay in his blood on the highway, _

_with a bunch of lace at his throat._

The ninja lay there, sweat trickling down his cheek.

His glass blue eyes wide like a dolls… lifeless and cold.

His chest did not move.

He watched as his world began to sink away, the ANBU coming closer.

He could hear the tune in his head, playing lonely for his lost love.

And for his lost life.

He longed to have her in his arms, and the last thing he ever wished to see…

Were those silver eyes, smiling down on him…

_**And still of a winter's night,**_

_ **they say, **_

_**when the wind is in the trees,**_

_**When the moon is a ghostly galleon **_

_**tossed upon cloudy seas,**_

_**When the road is a ribbon of moonlight **_

_**over the purple moor,**_

_**A ninja comes running-**_

_**Running-running-**_

_**A ninja comes running,**_

_ **up to the old inn-door.**_

_**Over the cobbles he clatters **_

_**and clangs in the dark inn-yard,**_

_**And he taps with his fingers on the shutters, **_

_**but all is locked and barred;**_

_**He whistles their tune to the window,**_

_ **and who should be waiting there**_

_**But the landlord's silver-eyed daughter,**_

_**Hinata, the landlord's daughter,**_

_**Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.**_


	2. Sakura& Echo and Narcissus &Sasuke

**Aaahhh! I haven't been on in so long!  
I'm sorry to everyone!  
I have writers block and I'm thinking of ending Konoha on High.**

**But I'm not sure! I can't think of anything to do.**

**Sooo if you have any ideas I can borrow..**

**And you have a GAIA**

**(YES! I have a Gaia now! It's xohloverlyx! Add me.)**

**Then PM me with the subject STORY TITLES.**

**Thanks!  
Here's a little SasuSaku for you so I can get my head back together.**

Sakura&ECHO AND NARCISSUS &Sasuke

Sakura was a beautiful nymph.

Her cherry hair ran down from her back, and her green eyes could pierce any mortals' heart.

That goes for a god, too. She was favored by many, including Zeus, but she was also a little devious.

Sakura's usual place to go was to the woods and hills, where she devoted herself to woodland sports.

She loved to watch things grow, and her favorites were the pink buds that grew from the trees.

She was also favorite of Ino, and attended her in a chase.

But Sakura had one failing; she was fond of talking, and whether in chat or argument, would have the last word.

One day Temari was seeking her husband, who, she had reason to fear, was amusing himself among the nymphs.

Sakura by her talk contrived to detain the goddess till the nymphs made their escape.

When Temari discovered it, she passed sentence upon Sakura in these words…

"You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond of- reply. You shall still have the last word, but no power to speak first."

Sakura climbed to the top of the woodland hills, sadly sighing to herself.

She was now known as the Echo.

This nymph saw Sasuke, a beautiful youth, as he pursued the chase upon the mountains.

She loved him and followed his footsteps.

Oh how she longed to address him in the softest accents, and win him to converse!

But it was not in her power.

She waited with impatience for him to speak first, and had her answer ready.

One day the youth, being separated from his companions, shouted aloud, "Who's here?"

Sakura replied, "Here."

Sasuke looked around, but seeing no one, called out, "Come."

Sakura answered, "Come."

As no one came, Sasuke called again, "Why do you shun me?"

Sakura asked the same question.

"Let us join one another," said the youth.

The maid answered with all her heart in the same words, and hastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about his neck.

He started back, exclaiming, "Hands off! I would rather die than you should have me!"

"Have me," pleaded Sakura; but it was all in vain.

"I would be injured before I let you embrace me!" Sasuke hissed, tossing her away violently.

"Embrace me!" Sakura begged, her voice breaking.

"I shall DIE before I let you kiss me!" He growled and turned from her.

"Kiss me, Kiss me!" Sakura screamed.

He left her, and she went to hide her blushes in the recesses of the woods.

From that time forth she lived in caves and among mountain cliffs.

Her form faded with grief, till at last all her flesh shrank away.

Her bones were changed into rocks and there was nothing left of her but her voice.

With that she is still ready to reply to any one who calls her, and keeps up her old habit of having the last word.

Sasuke's cruelty in this case was not the only instance.

He shunned all the rest of the nymphs, as he had done Sakura.

Hinata, the goddess of love, felt a pang of offense whenever Sasuke shunned to love these beautiful nymphs.

"Sasuke Uchiha, for you have slapped me in the face of love, you shall now only love… but NEVER be loved in return!"

And with that, the goddess cast her wishes.

There was a clear fountain, with water like silver, to which the shepherds never drove their flocks, nor the mountain goats resorted, nor any of the beasts of the forests; neither was it defaced with fallen leaves or branches; but the grass grew fresh around it, and the rocks sheltered it from the sun.

Sasuke came one day the youth, fatigued with hunting, heated and thirsty.

He stooped down to drink, and saw his own image in the water; he thought it was some beautiful water-spirit living in the fountain.

He stood gazing with admiration at those dark eyes; those raven locks, the rounded cheeks, the ivory neck, the parted lips, and the glow of health and exercise over all.

He fell in love with himself.

He brought his lips near to take a kiss; he plunged his arms in to embrace the beloved object.

It fled at the touch, but returned again after a moment and renewed the fascination.

He could not tear himself away; he lost all thought of food or rest while he hovered over the brink of the fountain gazing upon his own image.

He talked with the supposed spirit.

"Why, beautiful being, do you shun me? Surely my face is not one to repel you. The nymphs love me, and you yourself look not indifferent upon me. When I stretch forth my arms you do the same; and you smile upon me and answer my beckoning with the like."

His tears fell into the water and disturbed the image. As he saw it depart, he exclaimed, "Stay, I entreat you! Let me at least gaze upon you, if I may not touch you." With this, and much more of the same kind, he cherished the flame that consumed him, so that by degrees be lost his color, his vigor, and the beauty which formerly had so charmed the nymph Sakura.

She kept near him, however, and when he exclaimed, "Alas! alas!" she answered him with the same words.

"What a shame! Damn shame to die away while shunned! I love you!" He screamed, and the Echo picked up with the wind.

"I love you…" Sakura's voice said, carrying over the blades to the fading Sasuke.

"LOVE ME! Love me! Do not leave me! I love, thee! Love me!" Sasuke began to fade faster.

"Love me, love me…" She repeated faintly.

Sasuke pined away and died; and when his shade passed the Stygian river, it leaned over the boat to catch a look of itself in the waters.

The nymphs mourned for him, especially the water-nymphs. They prepared a funeral pile and would have burned the body, but it was nowhere to be found; but in its place a flower, pink with white buds, was named Sakura.


End file.
